On the first day of the 2022 F1 season, Pocket-lint was invited to watch the first practice session and even drive the Bahrain circuit ourselves.
That's because streaming service Now held an event in London with the coverage streaming on one screen, while another was attached to the Axsim Formula Simulator that was set up for the day.
And, while we've raced in motor racing simulators before - including one made from the shell of Fernando Alonso's F14 Ferrari - this is the closest we've ever felt to racing an actual F1 car.
Not only is Axsim's Formula Simulator designed around the chassis of an F1 car, it features three different stages of motion. This includes a suspension platform authorised by the FIA, curved rails that emulate yaw, and Cranfield G-Seat technology to give the impression of g-force, as originally designed for fighter pilot simulators.
The end result is something more physical and tangible than we've experienced in the past - you really do feel every bump and turn.
The seat and straps sport numerous airbags in select positions that expand and contract depending on the g-force that would normally be felt by a driver. It's not exact, of course, and you don't end up feeling like you want to throw up in a bin (thankfully) but it's quite an experience - one we didn't really want to end.
The Axsim Simulator also has a professional level steering wheel. with full colour LCD display and buttons in all the right places, although we did our laps in automatic mode for the sake of ease of use. After all, the day resulted in queues of influencers, plus Love Island and X-Factor stars eagerly waiting behind us for their turn.
We still managed four laps in total - two write-offs and a couple where we got round. One was even a hot lap with a time under 2-minutes which wasn't bad in respect to others on the day and considering we'd never driven around the Bahrain circuit before - not even in Codemasters' superb F1 games.
It was certainly enough to give us a taste. The only sticking point is the starting price of £40,000 for the basic version with motion, near £100K for the one we drove in. Oh well, maybe one day.
We'll also look out for one at other events for sure. And, in the meantime, stick with watching the actual action on TV, including through the Now streaming service with Sports membership.
You can find out how to watch the F1 2022 season unfold in our handy guide here: How to watch the F1 2022 season on TV, mobile, in 4K HDR and for free.
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